Free Speech Is More Threatened Than Ever and We Must Respond
Many readers probably have read about the New Wave of free speech suppression that has swept across campuses in the last several years. It comes on the heels of the…
Posts tagged with
“free speech”
NC Joins Growing List of States Seeking to Protect Campus Free Speech
Student intolerance and opposition to free speech have been gaining momentum. What began as isolated incidents at the University of Missouri and Yale University in fall 2015 quickly spread to…
Another Professor Shouted Down—This Time Over Pronouns
Universities in the United States do not have a monopoly on intolerant and disruptive students. Canada has them too, as shown by a recent incident at McMaster University in Hamilton,…
In Defense of Excluding Antisocial Student Groups
I pose a simple question: can free and civil discourse survive inclusion of those who would silence that discourse by any means possible—including violent intimidation? That seems to be a…
The Campus Free Speech Act: A Way to Restore the Marketplace of Ideas
Between the rise of safe spaces, trigger warnings, speaker disinvitations, and the often illiberal conduct of campus demonstrators over the past few years, it’s clear that the core constitutional value…
Either Support Our Politics or Find Another Field
The authoritarianism that increasingly characterizes the American professoriate is on full display in a case involving the master’s program in social work at Rhode Island College (RIC). A student who…
Shouldn’t an Entire Campus Be a Free Speech Zone—Not Just .02 Percent of It?
(Editor’s note: This article first appeared on Forbes.com.) Hostility to free speech has become a salient characteristic of American college campuses. Speech codes that make it dangerous for students (or…
Will the Surge of Support for Free Speech on Campus Do Any Good?
Last month, PEN America, the U.S. branch of an international organization, published a strong defense of free speech on college campuses. The nearly century-old group stands for the idea that…
The University of Chicago’s Support for Free Speech Sparks Opposition
Last month, just before the new academic year began, the University of Chicago’s dean of students, John Ellison, sent a letter (reproduced in this piece) to all incoming students. It…
UnFree My Campus
Freedom of speech has been under siege at many American colleges and universities. Sometimes the attack comes from aggressive students who can’t stand having others say things they disagree with,…